The Face of Homelessness in the Poconos: 130 stories of struggle

There's Howard Schoch, who has lived in the Poconos for 52 of his 54 years and is the last remaining member of a family who has lived in the area for generations.

Schoch worked at Pocono Foundry on Dreher Avenue in Stroudsburg from age 16 until it closed when he was 37, then worked at Kulp Foundry on Stokes Avenue in Stroudsburg until being laid off in the early 2000s.

That was the last steady employment he had prior to working for various temp agencies.

There's Chris Lentz, 52, another generations-deep area native from Long Pond unable to find steady work after the four-wheeler/snowmobile rental business where he worked shut down.

There's Alabama native John Miller, 65, homeless for 17 years and living in a bare backwoods shack with propane heating.

And West Virginia native James Harper, 22, on the streets since his teens, when he left an abusive home situation, and with no money to get his mental health prescriptions filled.

They and others like them spend their days at various soup kitchens, walking around in stores like Wal-Mart or on the streets, and shower whenever and wherever they can get free showers.

Some have slept under the Veterans Memorial Bridge between Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg or in the woods during warmer months.

On winter nights, they stay in fast-food restaurants until closing to keep warm and, if lucky, sleep in available shelters at the East Stroudsburg Salvation Army, a local church or elsewhere.

"You don't wanna be sleeping outdoors on a night like this if you can help it," Lentz said at the East Stroudsburg United Methodist Church shelter Wednesday night, when temperatures outside were in the teens with gusty winds.

An unsanitary homeless camp recently discovered under the Veterans Memorial Bridge has prompted Stroud Area Regional Police to notify the homeless that they will have to stop staying there.

John Studeny, one of the homeless who've slept there, said much of the unsanitary conditions there have not been caused by the homeless.

"Where does the town expect us to go?" Studeny asked. "What do they expect us to do? It's not like there's an abundance of jobs out there that pay enough to get decent permanent housing."

While some might stereotype all homeless people as lazy thieves or violent criminals, others hear their plight, as voiced by Studeny, and have taken the time to help and get to know some of them.

East Stroudsburg United Methodist and Stroudsburg Wesleyan are two churches providing the homeless with meals and, on winter nights, shelter.

"These are people like you and me, who are where you or I could be but for the grace of God," said the Rev. Lynda Keefer at Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church.

Agreeing is Faith Kimes, wife of the Rev. Edward Kimes at ESUMC.

"The homeless people we've gotten to know are kind, decent people who help each other," said Kimes. "And they don't want to stay homeless. Like anyone else, they want to work and pay their own way and live in decent housing. It's just that there are no jobs or housing they can afford, especially in an economy like this, when a landlord wants security plus first and last month's rent up front."

Ray Perkowski knows all about it, having been homeless for more than a year.

"The only roof I have over my head is the roof of my car," said Perkowski, forced to quit work as a firefighter near Wilkes-Barre after seven back surgeries in two years and now unable to lift anything heavier than a half-gallon of milk.

"In addition to my physical issues, I was in an abusive relationship and decided to leave. Since then, I've been unable to find a decent-paying job that's not physically demanding."

After moving out of his Luzerne County home, Perkowski applied for temporary shelter at the East Stroudsburg Salvation Army, but was told to return to Luzerne County to seek help.

To be eligible for temporary shelter, one must show proof they have lived in Monroe County for at least two years or worked here for at least six months, said East Stroudsburg Salvation Army shelter Director Edward Smith.

Perkowski had proof of neither.

"That was a slap in the face to me," he said. "I was in public service for 32 years, helping people, and now can't get help when I need it. It was like me refusing to go put out a fire at someone's house because their house was a few feet over the line in another fire department's jurisdiction."

Unable to find help in Luzerne County or anywhere else, Perkowski drove to the East Stroudsburg Wal-Mart parking lot and began staying there in his car.

That's where he met former Northampton resident Barb Glander, who likewise was living out of her car after escaping an abusive landlord. Like many other homeless, Glander was at society's mercy, having lost her perfume-making business.

"Another reason homeless people can't find housing is because they have pets, and not many places allow pets," said Glander, who has a pet bichon.

Perkowsi and Glander have become friends and do what they can to help other homeless, volunteering at local soup kitchens and church shelters and reaching out to fellow homeless on the streets.

The two met Kimes late last year when volunteering for the first time at ESUMC. A grant-writing member on the board of Family Promise of Monroe County, which helps homeless families, Kimes has been concerned about the homeless for years.

"When I first met Ray and Barb, our church had been providing community meals to the homeless, but we wanted to see what else we could offer," Kimes said.

Also at the time the three met, the date of the annual homeless count was approaching. The "continuum of care" consists of agencies like the Salvation Army, churches and any other programs providing emergency shelter or transitional or permanent housing for the homeless, said spokesman Brian Sullivan with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Each year, continuum-of-care agencies submit homelessness statistics for their local communities to HUD.

An ESUMC team of volunteers, some of whom are homeless, go out to soup kitchens, shelters and other places where the homeless are known to stay, such as abandoned buildings and wooded areas, to count.

During the days leading up to the counting date, Perkowski, Glander and others took Kimes on her first personal tour of how the unsheltered homeless live.

"I wanted to experience a little of what it's like to have no home," Kimes said. "I actually dressed myself in old dirty clothes when I went out on tour with the others. It was an eye-opening, emotional experience for me, even though I knew I was going back to my actual home at the end of each day and others weren't."

Kimes got to experience first-hand how homeless people are viewed and treated, since she herself was viewed and treated that way while posing as homeless.

"Strangers who didn't know me looked at me with mistrust in their eyes," she said. "At the same time, it was also enlightening to see how resourceful homeless people can be, because they have no choice but to be resourceful. When you're basically surviving on nothing but your wits, you have to have this adapt-mode mentality."

What really touched her was how some homeless people treat each other as a family and even help others newer to the homeless lifestyle.

"Once you get to know some of these folks as I have, there's no way you can see them as anything but good, kind-hearted human beings in a bad spot," Kimes said, noting how Perkowski once talked another homeless man out of suicide and drove him to get help.

As a result of ESUMC's count, which revealed more than 130 unsheltered homeless people in southern Monroe County as of Jan. 30, the church opened a shelter.

Due to municipal ordinances, the number of nights ESUMC's shelter can be opened is limited, so they take turns with the Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church shelter so that the homeless always have somewhere to stay at night, Kimes said.

"Want to know how to solve the homeless problem?" asked Perkowski. "With decent-paying jobs, affordable permanent housing and proper help for those of us with mental health issues. That's what we deserve and that's all we ask."